Tag: Nikon Photography

The very end of the 365 day photograph challenge and my last commentary in the series. Fittingly/predictably, I returned to the scene of day 1 of the challenge: the view across Morpeth from Ha’ Hill. I had hoped for a stunning sunset on Old Year’s Night, but one never materialised. You win some, you lose some! And that, my friends, is the end! But not quite the end as I intend to embark on new and more ambitious projects and blog about them as they develop. Watch this space!

Just a quick mention about this photograph from 26th December 2017. I am a great believer in practice makes perfect. This was a repeat of Day 4! 26th December 2017 was a similarly cold and dark winter’s night like 4th January 2017. In January I had never tried night photography before and I literally had no idea what I was doing (a bit more reading rather than guessing may have helped!). I’m almost too ashamed to share the 4th January photo as it is really bad. It is still important to reflect (excuse the pun), and show that you have learnt from the past.

Here we are at the twelfth and final month of the year. Writing in 2018, on the one hand it feels like 2017 flew by and on the other it felt like the longest year. I do recall that when I got to December I was beginning to feel relieved as by October I felt like I had run out of steam. I got a little more confidence with the D7200 and got some of my enthusiasm back. Here are the results.

1st December 2017 – Rutherford’s Department Store Christmas Display

Morpeth’s famous department store established in 1846 (over 170 years ago) always puts on a very traditional Christmas display in its shop window. This display is complemented by real pine trees mounted to the shop wall which are decorated in plain white lights to produce a very simple and classy look. This is one of my favourite local sights at Christmas.

Nikon D7200

1/60 sec exposure

f/4.5 40 mm

ISO 3200

3rd December 2017 – Coquetdale

A fine view of Coquetdale (pronounced ‘Co-cut’) in rural Northumberland on a glorious, cold, crisp, winter’s morning. The small village is Harbottle with its castle ruins. My friends and I took a short walk on this fine morning to the Drake Stone, which overlooks Harbottle village, to remember our friend, Janice, who’s ashes were scattered there in 2016.

Nikon D7200

1/1000 sec exposure

f/8 85 mm

ISO 800

6th December 2017 – Rothbury Village

The largest settlement in Coquetdale, Rothbury is a pretty village of about 2000 residents. The parish of Upper Coquetdale is the largest in England by area. Its parish church of All Saints seen in this photo is known as the Cathedral Church of Coquetdale. This photo was taken from the hill on the NE approach into the village. It is quite a pleasing angle showing the heart of the village in the shadow of Simonside (the stepped mountain in the background). It is a shame that the tennis courts in the foreground spoil the view. I tried cropping the bottom off the photo by changing the aspect ratio to 16:9, but that came at the loss of the road leading into the village and the photograph. Somehow it wasn’t as pleasing as the original.

Nikon D7200

1/640 sec exposure

f/6.3 62 mm

ISO 800

10th December 2017 – Morpeth Riverside

My winter take on the view of Morpeth Riverside from the weir. The reflections in the water above the weir have come out nice and crisp. It’s a shame that this photo doesn’t convey the freezing temperatures.

Nikon D7200

1/60 sec exposure

f/4 26 mm

ISO 2800

12th December 2017 – Coquet Island

Only the second view I shot of Coquet Island in 2017 (the other being 7th January 2017). This was another freezing day. There had been some snowfall and the local roads were treacherous. Indeed, it was so cold that the beach was frozen in places. I was really pleased with the pale blue tones of this photograph.

Nikon D7200

1/1000 sec exposure

f/8 92 mm

ISO 400

13th December 2017 – Lit and Phil, Newcastle upon Tyne

This was supposed to have been shot on the D7200, but muggins here forgot to put the memory card in the camera, or even the camera bag before leaving the house. Instead, it was photographed on my Samsung Galaxy S7. I exaggerated the brightness and contrast somewhat before using some of the phone filters to make the colours more vivid.

Originally founded in 1793 as the Conversation Club, it is now known as the Literary and Philosophical Society of Newcastle upon Tyne. The current building with its impressive library was built between 1822 and 1825 to the designs of architect John Green. In 2012 the society’s membership surpassed 2000.